Tempers flared at the Grimsby Town fans forum at Blundell Park as host Matt Dean found himself at the centre of heated exchanges over BBC coverage of the club.

Issues raised at the forum included the Checkatrade Trophy and relocation to the proposed new stadium at Peaks Parkway.

But as the forum neared its end, previous rumours linking Curtis Woodhouse with a return to Blundell Park also resurfaced - with Dean subjected to angry criticism from director John Fenty and manager Russell Slade over a report saying Woodhouse was on the verge of being appointed first team coach.

The outburst and club's stance torward Dean was criticised by some fans on social media and the BBC Look North and Radio Humberside presenter later took to Twitter to thank fans for messages of support.

Here is what was said by the panel, and fans in the audience, when that matter arose...

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JF: “You talk about asking the question Matt, but I have a question; why did you bring up the Curtis Woodhouse thing?

“We have been pilloried as a football club for batting down a story that had no foundation, or a foundation which should have been researched.

“Now we have been pilloried for that, and I would like to get to the bottom of it. And secondly, when the club made its first statement to rebuff what you said, you weren’t content with that – the next day you said that you had it on good authority that, effectively, the board intervened and stopped this happening.”

MD: “I didn’t actually say that. That was your inference. That’s the way it was interpreted.”

JF: “An inference means an awful lot to fans, because they can be led. If you led them in that way, then please answer to why you did that.”

MD: “As you well know John, I had a meeting with club officials last week, and we discussed this.”

PD: “Yes we did.”

JF: “I didn’t know about this.”

MD: It’s been dealt with, with the club. You’ve put out your statement, and I put out my report.

JF: “At the end of the day, we got pilloried for putting out a statement that rebuffed a nonsensical, didn’t happen, event. It was then followed up by suggesting that the board had intervened – suggested, inference, or whatever you want to call it.

"We then put out another statement. There was a raft of fans that think we were wrong to rebuff that. How can we leave in the arena that Curtis has been appointed as first-team coach which, without all the speculation that brought at the time, without rebuffing it. How can the club be wrong? Can anybody really honestly answer that?”

Grimsby Town fans forum host Matt Dean, right, and club director John Fenty, left (Image: GTFC)

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Fan 2: “I think the club were exactly right. It was rebuffed in the first instance, and so it should have been. I had no problem to that. To me, a simple statement saying ‘this club can categorically deny that this is happening. Curtis Woodhouse is not interest in coming to Grimsby, from either side’. End of story. Then a phone to call to Matt saying, ‘right, you were out of order’.

"First of all, I think the manner of it was a little over the top. Matt, I also think that you responded very unprofessionally and it turned out with two people in senior PR positions getting into a playground slanging match. I think you were right to rebuff it John, but I just think it was over the top.”

JF: “These are all opinions. The club was hurt by what was said initially. If the club is not allowed to rebuff something, then it’s a pretty poor show. I will always defend the football club.”

MD: “That I accept. There are lots of rumours that fly around, and of course it’s my job to try and find out what’s going on. In this instance, I had been told by a very reliable source what had happened and what was going on. Journalists never reveal their sources, as you well know.”